AutoZone (AZO) closed the most recent trading day at $3,009.44, moving +1.74% from the previous trading session. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.28%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.26%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.77%.
Heading into today, shares of the auto parts retailer had gained 0.02% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 1.67% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.31%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of AutoZone in its forthcoming earnings report. In that report, analysts expect AutoZone to post earnings of $55.08 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 13.08%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.71 billion, up 7.52% from the year-ago period.
AZO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $150.39 per share and revenue of $20.48 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +3.81% and +8.13%, respectively.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates for AutoZone. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. Right now, AutoZone possesses a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
In terms of valuation, AutoZone is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.67. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 18.5.
One should further note that AZO currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.5. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. AZO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.73 as of yesterday's close.
The Automotive - Retail and Wholesale - Parts industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 72, this industry ranks in the top 30% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow AZO in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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AutoZone, Inc. (AZO): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).